Dire circumstances in Philippines escalate with need for relief

As relief efforts seek to sort through the wreckage and the dead, many Filipinos struggle to maintain composure in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

Emmilie Buchanan-Whitlock

With an unknown death toll rising and accounts of terror from typhoon survivors pouring in, the world is putting the picture of Typhoon Haiyan together and rising to the pleas for relief.
"We are seeing a lot of dead throughout the province," Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr., a spokesman for the Philippines armed forces, told the New York Times. "I have been in the service for 32 years, and I have been involved with a lot of calamities. I don't have words to describe what our ground commanders are seeing in the field."
Many survivors have described the tsunami-like characteristics of the storm, speculated to be the worst in Philippines' history, the New York Times reported.
According to the article, top relief official Valerie Amos was headed to the scene in the Philippines on Monday, and had already released $25 million from an emergency response fund with plans to call for more money upon arriving.
USA Today reported efforts from the United States in an article Monday.
"A contingent of 230 American service members, most of them Marines and sailors based in Japan, were on the ground to aid in rescue and recovery operations following Typhoon Haiyan, also called Yolanda," the article reported.
And the account of the country from all parties is devastating.
The Washington Post reported on an article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, indicating the psychological toll hunger and grief are taking on the victims of the storm.
"Some people are losing their minds. ... People are becoming violent. They are looting business establishments, the malls, just to find food. I'm afraid that in one week, people will be killing from hunger," a local schoolteacher, Andrew Pomeda, said.
The article reports that entire regions do not have food or water, and dead bodies are scattered in the streets.
"The latest Philippine government estimates suggest that 9.5 million people - about 10 percent of the country - have been affected, with more than 600,000 displaced from their homes," the Washington Post reports.
A full assessment of the damage is forthcoming, as many areas of the island are still cut off from relief.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D123526%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E